Verizon ramps up TV, buys Intel Medias OnCue

Verizon announced Tuesday its agreement to purchase the assets of Intel Media, a division of Intel dedicated to the development of cloud TV products and services that includes the OnCue Cloud TV platform. Financial terms were not disclosed, and although the deal has to pass through regulatory screenings, it’s expected to be closed by the end of Q1 2014. From the industies perspected, OnCue was a long shot for Intel. Headed by Intel Media VP Erik Huggers, it was definitely one of those try-it-and-see-how-it-goes sort of endeavors. According to sources at Verizon, they are aquiring all of Intel Media, including their 350 employees, intellectual property rights, and other assets. "The OnCue platform and team will help Verizon bring next-generation video services to audiences who increasingly expect to view content when, where and how they want it," said Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam.

Cord Swapping replaces Cord Cutting

Interesting data has been made public in the FCC’s annual video competition report released this past Monday.  Comcast, Time Warner Cable and other cable operators lost about 2.5 million video subscribers between 2010 and 2012. As anticipated the Satellite and Telco side of the industry are still in the growth mode for the most part.  AT&T's U-verse TV posted the biggest video subscriber gain, growing its subscription base from 3 million to 4.1 million during the same period. Verizon's FiOS TV expanded from 3.5 million to 4.5 million subscribers during the same period while DirecTV Inc. grew its subscriber base by 700,000 to 19.9 million during the same period, and Dish Network  remained flat at 14.1 million.

Total gain of 2.8 million reflects a modest net gain of 300K for the overall industry, so is it safe to assume that the feared cord cutting rumor is untrue and frankly should be renamed cord swapping.

Other note worthy items listed in the report:

•  The FCC said cable operators installed 38,000 CableCARDs in retail devices such as TiVo DVRs and connected TVs in 2012.

•  The number of households that rely solely on over-the-air antennas to watch TV remained flat at 11.1 million in 2012.

•  Deployments of DVRs in pay TV homes increased to 50.3 million in 2012, up from 46.3 million in 2011. DVR penetration in TV homes has increased to 43.8 percent.

 More on this topic: See the FCC Report.